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Challenges in microbial ecology: building predictive understanding of community function and dynamics

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Thomas CurtisORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

The importance of microbial communities (MCs) cannot be overstated. MCs underpin the biogeochemical cycles of the earth's soil, oceans and the atmosphere, and perform ecosystem functions that impact plants, animals and humans. Yet our ability to predict and manage the function of these highly complex, dynamically changing communities is limited. Building predictive models that link MC composition to function is a key emerging challenge in microbial ecology. Here, we argue that addressing this challenge requires close coordination of experimental data collection and method development with mathematical model building. We discuss specific examples where model-experiment integration has already resulted in important insights into MC function and structure. We also highlight key research questions that still demand better integration of experiments and models. We argue that such integration is needed to achieve significant progress in our understanding of MC dynamics and function, and we make specific practical suggestions as to how this could be achieved.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Widder S, Allen RJ, Pfeiffer T, Curtis TP, Wiuf C, Sloan WT, Cordero OX, Brown SP, Momeni B, Shou WY, Kettle H, Flint HJ, Haas AF, Laroche B, Kreft JU, Rainey PB, Freilich S, Schuster S, Milferstedt K, van der Meer JR, Grosskopf T, Huisman J, Free A, Picioreanu C, Quince C, Klapper I, Labarthe S, Smets BF, Wang H, Soyer OS, Isaac Newton Inst Fellows

Publication type: Review

Publication status: Published

Journal: The ISME Journal

Year: 2016

Volume: 10

Issue: 11

Pages: 2557-2568

Print publication date: 01/11/2016

Online publication date: 29/03/2016

Acceptance date: 22/02/2016

ISSN (print): 1751-7362

ISSN (electronic): 1751-7370

Publisher: NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2016

DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2016.45


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